Automatic lock and release for mine cars



May 1s 1926. '1,584,746

J. E. JONES AUTOMATIC LOCK AND RELEASE FOR MINE CARS Filed Sept 27, 19242 sheets-sheet 1 :g- -9 A H v l 9 h 34 4 7" .9 L 4j 36 @gf 7&5 f6 @0J 46616 17 Y 7 KD S @l 2 11 ""'l U J 1 EINEN@ y l e f@ pri 26 H /42 22 ,ze j,27 0 f; l, |1 1 If1l1. 2@ '2 2^@ NICI-:1FL n i j .ze fi@ Y 1M@ 26 i111@o f@ 6 1 S I9' GD e 14 @I f7 .9 45 11/16 f2 a5 92, M 6&1 9\ a5 ,3g3111101141101 '9 n '-.E rIEJIoneS. i; 46 f n' 9 Gttoavwg! May 18 1926.1,584,746

J. E. JONES- AUTOMATIC LOCK AND RELEASE FOR MINE CARS l Y i Patented May18, 1926.

Ul'l" ST TES 'EET Fl CE AUTOMATIC LOCK AND RELEASE FOR MINE CARS.

Application filed September 27, 1924. Serial No. 740,278.

This invention relates to mechanism for locking a mine carV upon a cageand releasing the car after it has been drawn to the surface 4of theground or other discharge point'. The object ofthe invention is toprovide an apparatus of compact and simple construction which willautomatically lock the car"k upon the cage and which will be operableupon descent of the cage to automatically release an empty car andpermit it tobe replacedV by a loaded car. Gther incidental lobjects willappear in the course of the following description.

In the drawings, which illustrate one embodiment of my invention,

f Figure 1 is a plan view of a cage having my improvements appliedthereto;

Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; i

Fig. 3 is a transverse 3 3 0f Fig'. l,

Fig. et is an end view of a portion of the release mechanism, viewingthe same from the side opposite that shown inFigs. 2 and 3, and

Fig. 5 is a detail section on the line v5--5 of Fig. 1.

rlhe cage in the accompanying drawings is illustrated as consist-ing ofside beams or sills 1, cross bars or ties2 secured to and extendingbetween the sills, and a tie bolt 3 section on the line insertedcentrally through the sills so as to firmly bind all the parts together.Track rails 4 are secured upon the cross bars or ties 2 and extendlongitudinally of the cage, as is usual in these devices. Mounted uponthe platform or cage, parallel with the rails and at the outer sides ofthe same, are rock shafts 5 which are journaled in bearings 6 securedupon the sills and cross bars or upon bed plates 7 which are in turnsecured upon 'the upperfsides of the sills and cross bars, the said bedplates being provided with slots or notches 8 to accommodate the workingelements. Upon referenceto Fig. 1, it will be noted that the rock shafts5 are provided at the outer side of each track rail l and at cessor`notch 8 a collar 10 is secured upon 13 loosely fitted uponv the rockshaft 5 and an expansion spring 15 is provided between the horn and aguiding bearing lug 16 on the plate 8 so as to hold the horn toward thecollar 10, while a torsional spring 17 coiled around the rock shaftbetween the horn and bearing lug 16 and having its ends attached to thesaid lug and the horn respectively serves to hold the horn yieldably ina position proj ecting over the adjacent track rail, as clearly shown inthe drawings. Below the rock shaft, a crank arm 18 depends from thehorn, and this crank arm carries a counterweight 19 `which cooperateswith the spring 17 to hold the horn in the wheel engaging positionillustrated in the drawings. A headed stud 2O is provided on the edge ofthe arm 18, and this stud slidably engages in a longitudinal slot 21formed in the outer end of a link 22 at one side of the apparatus whichis disposed below the top of the cage or platform andv has its inner endpivotally attached to a crank arm 23 which is fixed upon a rock shaft 24mounted in suitable bearings 25 provided therefor upon adjacent crossbars'2. Radially alined with the crank arm 23 is asecond crank arm 26 towhich is pivoted the elongated yoke 27 carried by the inner end of alink 28 which corresponds, otherwise, to the link 22 and is connectedwith the horn 14 at the opposite side of the cage in the same. mannerthat the link 22 is connected with the first-mentioned horn. It willthus be readily seen that, if the shaft 2-1 be rocked, the crank arms 23and 26 will in opposite directions and thereby swing the respectivehorns outwardly with respect to the track rails, while the slots 21permit the horns to be swung away from the rails if the shafts 5 berocked and the shafts 24 remain at rest. Mounted in suitable bearings 29upon the cross bars 2 and above the bearings 25 is an operating rockshaft 30 which, like the shafts 5 and 24, Yextends parallel with thetrack rails, and this shaft 30 has fixed thereon a crank arm 31 whichextends downwardly to the yoke 27 to which it is pivoted, as shown mostclearly in Fig. 2.1 The shaft 8O extends to the end of the cage and at arbe swung so as to move the links 22 and 28 (mine shaft and ha.

point immediately adjacent the outermost cross bar 2 is litted with adisk 32 having a peripheral shoulder 33. This disk is arranged betweeneheekplates 3s which are loosely mounted upon the hub 35 of the disk andextend radially outwardly from the rock shaft. Disposed between andgivoted to the upper outer corners of the cheek plates 3l is a dog 36having a tooth or shoulder 37 on its lower edge which is adapted toengage the shoulder 33 on the disk 32, as illustrated 1in Fig. it beingunderstood that. the dog 36 is disposed in the same vertical plane asthe disk. A lateral stud or pin 33 is provided on the side ot the dog 36and projects over a trigger 39 which is formed on the inner end ot'fashort rock shaft il() journaled in a suitable bearing 41 at the end ot'the cage and having its outer end formed into a trip- Ll2 which extendsradially outward Vand terminates adjacent the track rail 4, as shown at43, Vwhereby it may be actuated by the wheel ot a car passing onto orfrom the cage. Obviously, when the trip ll2 is depressed by the flangeof a car wheel, the trigger 39 will be swung upwardly and by Vitsengagement with the pin or stud 33 will rock the dog 36 so that itstooth or shoulder 37 will be released from the shoulder 33 so thatmovement of the dog and of the disk 32 will then be entirelyindependent. A lever el is tulcrumed upon a rod 45, mountedlongitudinally of the vcage upon the bottom thereof, andthe said leveris disposed transversely of the cage and has one end provided with acounterweight 46 so that it will be norinally in the pendent positionshown in'Figs. 2 and 3. kThe opposite end ot the lever la is connectedby a link 47 with the outer lower corners of the cheek plates 34, asshown and as will be readily understood. In the operation ot theapparatus, the `tree weighted end of the lever 4st is adapted to strikea projection or landing tan at the side ot the mine Shaft and be therebyswung upwardly so that the cheek plates 3ft will be rocked downwardlyabout the shaft 30, and the dog 36, being then in engagement with thedisk 32, will transmit the motion to the rock shaft 30.

The landing fan may be ofany preferred or well-known form. In Fig. 2, Ihave indicated by dotted lines a fan consisting of a blade 50 or thelike which is hingedly mounted at its lower edge on the side of the anupper corner connected by links with a rcontrolling lever on thelanding. In one position of the controllinglever, the blade is heldvclose to the wall `et the sliatttoflet the cage pass and in anotherposition ot the controlling lever -the blade is rocked to present itsupper edge to the under side of the tree end of the lever Normally thehorns 14; have their upper extremities disposed over the trae t rails sin the path ot the wheels ot a car coming onto the cage. It will also benoted upon reference to Fig. l that the upper edges of the horns aredisposed obliquely with respect to the track rails so that a carapproaching from either side will have its wheels engage an obliquelydisposed face of the first-encountered horns and will consequently pushthe same aside, the springs 17 yielding to permit such movement and theslots 2l accommodating the movement while the links 22 and remainstationary. rl`he horns nearer the opposite end ot the cage, however,will present abrupt faces or edges to the car wheels and will stop thetravel otI thecar, and the springs IT and weights l0 will return thelirst encountered horns to their elieetive positions behind the carwheels so that the wheels ot the car will be held between the pairs othorns. rlhe shoulders 12 et the horns and the lugs Il ot' the collars lOare so relatively disposed that the locking movement of the horns is notinterfered with by the collars. L loaded ar having been thus broughtonto the cage and locked in position, the cage is raised to the mouth ofthe sha't't. At the ground level, it there be no landing tans, the trips9 are depressed by the operator whereby the rock shafts 5 will be rockedto bring the inner sides of the lugs ll inte enggagenient with the innerportions ot the shoulders l2 and swing the horns outwardly so that theear will be released. Ir there be a landing tan, the cage is carriedupwardly a few inches above the level ot the landing to permit the headman to throw the landing fan in under the cage, whereupon the cage islowered to the level. The tree weighted end o'iE the lever 45st willthen encounter the landing tan and will be rocked so as to transmit themotion through the intermediate connections to the shaft 30 and as thesaid shaft 30 is connected through the cranks 23 and 26 and the links 22and 23 with the horns, the horns will be rocked outwardly to release theear. The released ear will be pushed from the cage and un empty car willfollow immediately behind it onto the cage. is the loaded earppassestrom the cage, its wheels will ride over the trips 42 and depress thesame, thereby rocking the triggers 39 so as to` release the dogs 36 fromthe disks 32, whereupon the springs 1T and the weights 19 will throw thehorns over to the rails to check and hold the empty car while the leverfl remains in its raised position. rIllie cage is then slightly raisedto permit withdrawal oi the landin(Y fan, whereupon the lever lll willswing downwardly and the parts will be set tor the next operation.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings. it will be seen that I have provided a vervsimple, compact, easily. operated and efficient mechanism whereby a carwill be locked upon the cage and automatically released when the cagehas been moved to the discharge point.

Having thus described the invention, IV

claim:

l. The combination with a cage and track rails thereon, of rock shaftson the cage alongside the rails, horns mounted loosely on the rockshafts, yieldable means holding the horns normally over the rock shafts,an operating lever on the cage, lostmoti0n conections between the leverand the horns whereby the horns may be moved from over the rails,horn-engaging members on the rock shafts, yieldable means holding thehorns to said members, and means for rocking the shafts whereby to movethe horns from the rails independently of the lever.

2. An apparatus for the purpose set forth comprising a cage, track railsthereon, horns mounted at the sides of the track rails, yieldable meansholding' the horns normally projecting overy the rails, a rock shaftcarried by the cage, lost-motion connections between said rock shaft andthe horns, and trip devices operatively connected with the rock shaftwhereby to move the horns to ineffective position.

3. The combination of a cage, a track thereon, a rock shaft adjacent thetrack, a horn mounted loosely on the rock shaft, yieldable means holdingthe horn normally over the track, meansA for rocking the horn while theshaft is at rest, means for rocking theV shaft, and means on the shaftto engage the horn and move it from normal position when the shaft isrocked.

e. The combination of a rock shaft, a horn mounted thereon, yieldablemeans holding the horn in normal position, means whereby rocking of theshaft will move the horn from normal position, and trip devices formoving the horn from normal position while the shaft is at rest.

5. The combination of rails, horns mounted at the sides of the rails andnormally projecting over the same, yieldable means holding,` the hornsin normal position, a rockshaft between the rails, lost-motionconnections between said shaft and the horns, a shouldered diskconnected with the rock shaft, a dog normally engaging said disk, andmeans for releasing the dog.

6. The combination of a cage and rails thereon, horns mounted at thesides of the rails, yieldable means for holding,` the horns over therails, a rock shaft extending longitudinally of the cage, a lever on thecage to engage an extraneous operating device, operative connectionsbetween the lever and the rock shaft,` lost-motion connections betweensaid shaft and the horns, and trip devices to be operated by the wheelsof a leaving car for releasing the connections between the shaft and thelever whereby the horns may return to operative position while the leveris at rest.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.`

JOHN ELMER JONES. [Ls]

